Dead River Community Forest

Welcome to the Proposed

Dead River Community Forest

a Resource for Everyone

Explore the proposed Dead River
Community Forest with us on October 8th!

Come learn about the project with UPLC staff on Monday evening, October 8th. Meet at the UPLC office at 5 P.M. to carpool/caravan to the pocket park on the North side of the old CR 510 Bridge, or you can meet us there at 5:30 P.M., and we’ll walk over the old bridge and up to the new 510 bridge through the proposed DRCF. We’re aiming to catch a beautiful sunset, so don’t forget to bring your cameras!

The Project

The proposed Dead River Community Forest will be a multi-partner collaboration that will protect and give public access to 190 acres of healthy, diverse riparian forest adjacent to the current Vielmetti-Peters Conservation Reserve. The area has been eyed up for development of housing and high-profit timber management, but with your help, it will become a recreational and educational resource for the entire community.

We are currently in working partnerships with the Noquemenon Trail Network and the North Country National Scenic Trail (to help us build multi-use trails to the highest standard), the Cities and Townships of Marquette and Negaunee (to include this area in regional recreation plans), The Laughing Whitefish Chapter of the Audubon Society, Trout Unlimited to help us protect the incredible cold-water gravel bed areas of the river (read: fish) on this property, the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community to help us open the area to traditional harvests, The Chocolay Raptor Center, the Marquette County Conservation District and Lake to Lake Cooperative Invasive Species Management Area for assistance with the eradication and management of Non-Native Invasive Species and restoration of native plant species; and Green Timber Forestry Consultants and Compass Land Consultants to create a climate-change mitigation focused forest management plan to be used as a demonstration and education area for local landowners to learn how to prepare for and combat climate change on their lands through sustainable forestry practices. We also plan on partnering with local schools, including Northern Michigan University, to create an outdoor learning classroom on the property.

To ensure the permanent protection of 186 acres of riparian forest by acquiring two high-value conservation parcels in the Dead River Basin

To provide recreation opportunities that meet the needs and interests of the community by establishing multi-use trails and educational signage in those parcels after acquisition

To actively engage the public in the land protection and management processes by forming genuine partnerships with diverse stakeholders

To provide opportunities for the public to establish an emotional connection with the property, which will spur a sense of communal responsibility, by hosting informational meetings and active outings on the property prior to, during, and after establishing the properties.

To expand outdoor educational opportunities for students and landowners to experience hands-on learning about the sustainable management of various UP ecosystems/habitats

To initiate a climate-change mitigation-focused and restoration-based Forest Management Plan for the proposed Dead River Community Forest in order to further prepare the area for the current and future effects of climate change in that area.

Ambitious? Yep!

Needed? Totally.

Possible? Absolutely!

Next Steps

UPLC has been in negotiations about the future of this property with the current landowners for years, who are also excited to see it become a community resource. We have reached an agreement for price, and UPLC has currently applied for two major grants to make this community resource a reality. While we wait to hear back about this grants, though, we want to spread the word! The grants may cover most of the purchase price, but they won’t cover it all, nor will they cover the perpetual and long-term management costs such as building and maintaining trails, designing and installing interpretive signs, or staff time to put on educational events with our partners.

UPLC staff will be spending our time while we wait for word about the first two grants applying for MORE grants, conducting public information sessions about the project, leading hikes on the property, and working with another grantor, Heart of the Lakes, to create a short and informative video about the proposed project that we can share with you.

What can you do? Well…the easiest and most immediately helpful thing is to donate. While we don’t have the exact number we’ll need (due to those grants we’re waiting on hearing about), we know it will be bare minimum $60,000 that we’ll need to raise even if we get both of the major grants we’ve currently submitted. You can also help us spread the word! Are you a part of an organization, a hiking group, an employee wellness group, a community of any kind that would be interested in benefiting from this amazing potential resource? We’ll come talk to them live and in person if you want (I’ll even bring infographics!), or you can bring them to one of our events like the hike on October 8th or an info session in the fall.

Midway creek winds its way around massive granite outcroppings on its way to the Dead River through the proposed Community Forest

Keep watching here, your inbox, and social media for updates!

In the meantime, check out this waterfall, we’re going to be building a trail so you can see it in person once we own the property.

Conservation Land for Sale!

Are you a conservation-minded buyer looking for real estate with high ecological value?

UPLC is selling a 4.27-acre parcel in Grand Marais, Michigan, over which we will also hold a Conservation Easement. The property has 175 feet of frontage on Lake Superior's shoreline and 350 feet of the Sucker River, which will be protected forever from degradation! This property contains a fragile and rare Great Lakes Wooded Dune-and-Swale ecosystem, and the sand-and-cobble beach hosts endangered breeding Piping Plovers, among hundreds of other shorebirds. This property does not currently have a building on it, but the easement allows for the development of a camp area for living or enjoying as a vacation getaway.

To view the real estate flier including further property details and realtor contact information, please click here.
You can also call or e-mail the UPLC office if you have questions about this incredible property.